Knitting Year in Review

I wouldn't say that I was very productive in my knitting this year... altho I sort of say that every year and then when I go to write this post, I find that I have been reasonably productive.

 

I made eleven hats.  Of those eleven hats, nine of them were for gifts.  That's I think a record number of gift knitting for me... Sam got two hats, my sister got five, my dad got one and my other friend got one.

 

I made four pairs of mittens.  Of those four pairs of mittens they're MINE ALL MINE!

 

I made eleven shawls/scarfs.  Of those eleven, ten were for me and one was for my friend at work who went through cancer treatment.

 

I made a pair of slippers, an iphone cover, Henri and SadNorman for me.  One hot water bottle cover for me and one for my friend and one large baby blanket for another friend.

 

That's the extent of my knitting... I guess 33 items isn't really anything to sneeze at... but let's look at the lessons I learned.

 

1.  Sometimes the anticipation of finishing something is better than actually finishing it.  Take my Girasole... I finally 'finished' it... (by finished, I mean, decided to stop knitting on it and cast the sucker off).  I was so excited.  The thing is beautiful, don't get me wrong... but it's a weird size and a round blanket is a difficult thing to actually use.  So it's in a giant zipper bag in my knitting locker.

 

2.  If you're going to knit something, you should read the entire pattern first and check on the stitch count etc... before you decide to 'make it bigger using bigger yarn'. 

 

3.  Steeking lace is never a good idea... especially if you don't actually know how to steek!

 

4.  Turns out that when you get more comfortable with knitting, your guage changes.  I used to knit mitts on 4.5mm.  Now I have to use 4mm because the bigger needle makes them look like they're made of mesh.

 

5.  It's okay to knit things for yourself the EXACT way you like them.  Turns out that I don't particularly care for thumbs in my fingerless mitts.  Thumbs are difficult to get perfectly snug and I find the mitt less useful than when it doesn't have thumbs.  Since I'm knitting mittens for me and I don't like thumbs, that means I can make thumbless mittens till I'm blue in the face... and I have...

 

6.  Giving knitting away to deserving and admiring recipients is fun!  Hats are easy.  Hats are fast.  People like hats.  I like to make hats and yet I only have one head.  It's difficult to find people that I feel comfortable knitting for... It's a weird thing...

 

7.  Taking commissions isn't something I'm very good at.  I mean, I do it, but the second something is expected of me, I immediately lose the interest to knit anything at all...

 

8.  Just because you start knitting someone's birthday present eleven months early, doesn't mean that you'll finish on time... ever!